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Monday, 17 May 2010

BabyFirstTV - We are NOT happy with Sky!

BabyFirstTV is a wonderful channel created for babies and toddlers that provides parents with an interactive tool to aid their child's development.

I first discovered BabyFirst while I was pregnant, channel hopping for hours on end. I thought it would be perfect for my little boy when he finally got here, as all the other childrens channels were for a much older age group and from what I had seen, much more informative and catering to baby's developmental needs. A tool rather than a baby sitter.

As soon as Dyllan could see the TV (allthough now that I think about it, probably before then!) he was hooked. One of the things that really appealled to me, as well as fellow BFTV watchers, is the fact that it was a 24/7 channel. Meaning that it was allways there when you needed it, which was sometimes crucial at night. After bedtime its programs are soothing, perfect for wind down time and getting them off to sleep.
One of the night time programs featured kangaroos hopping about. This was the first thing Dyllan ever chuckled at, he thought it was great.

The programs are colour coded to help parents get the most out of their baby's viewing,

Yellow Flower for Thinking Journey

Blue Flower for Numbers Parade

Green Flower for Sensory Wonderland

Red Flower for Language Playground

Orange Flower for Feelings Garden

Pink Flower for Imagination Lane

Multi-Coloured Flower for Rainbow Dreams

Also, its content is multi-layered, so that babies of any age can enjoy each program on their own levels.

All in all, a brilliant channel, the only of its kind to be on Sky TV.

SO WHY HAVE THEY AXED IT!?

With pretty much no warning or explantation from Sky, BabyFirstTV has been withdrawn. And boy, the mums/dads and carers are not happy! Yes, you can still watch it online, but seriously, we've all been there trying to get baby to watch the monitor and things flying off the desk, or them getting down because sitting still is just so much fun!! - Note the sarcasm. I'd love to see someone trying to play along with baby gym infront of their pcs.
Please pass the chocolate tea pot.

Over the past few years, Sky have really gone down in my estimations. Charging prices that are for some people mortgage worthy and then axing good channels. I find myself saying more and more often that even though there are hundreds of channels, there's nothing on!
And now they have thrown away the babies' favourite and best channel. Nothing even compares to BabyFirst.

Everyone I've spoken to is disgusted that this channel is gone. Are you? Y/Y??

I shall be contacting Sky myself to see if I can find out why it has been axed and to try and make a plan of attack in getting BabyFirstTV back on the air.

Want to help? Watch this space, tell your friends and hopefully soon we can have quite a big campaign going! Don't these people know that Mums/dads and carers do not let these kind of things go without fight?

Anyone else that is upset with the decision Sky has made needs to let them know.Get in touch with Sky directly.and/orLeave a comment here giving your thoughts.and/orTweet a message including the hash tag #BringBackBabyFirstIf you want to engage with Sky via Twitter then address your thoughts to @mazi as he is their social media man. Try and include the #BringBackBabyFirst tag if you can.

Anonymous:BabyTV in my opinion isn't 'just as good' at all. Bottom line is that it's what our children prefer, not what we think is good or not.

Mukesh:This was Sky's decision, not BabyFirstTVs. The complaining needs to be done to Sky themselves.

I have tried calling them on 08442 410 265 but no luck just yet. I'm trying to juggle a poorly toddler too but hopefully I can get through soon, or please if you guys can try too that would be great, power in numbers!

You are quite right that there is still BabyTV available through Sky and you could argue that it is 'just as good'. It is not, however, *the same*.

Until Baby First went off the air we would use both channels. There are programs on both BabyTV and BabyFirst that we liked and there are programs on both that we didn't like so much. Having both channels gave us, and more importantly our daughter, a choice.

You are likely correct in your assumption as to why the channel has been dropped. That doesn't mean we as viewers/customers should be happy about it or that we should just quietly accept it.

WE NEED BABY FIRST BACK! Our little cupcake loved that channel and we miss it, especially for our quiet times in the afternoon. The programmes were fun and we loved singing along to the songs. The tellybob is not used during the day now that Baby first has been axed, so is it even worth us having Sky anymore?

I'm not getting any answers from sky, I'm not happy at all. Having moved and not yet installed sky, I shall NOT be installing it now. BabyFirst was the primary reason for having it and after the way we have been treated Its pretty appauling really. Sky have lost a customer.

I am disgusted how they just switched off the channel without at least warning people. My little one is autistic and there was one programme on that channel that actually made him smile....We are not carrying on our contract with sky, their prices are ridiculous and the way they treat their customers is even worse.Bad bad customer relations Sky! wonder how many customers you will loose this year?!

i have only just come back to sky and found that no baby first tv it was the main reason i came back to sky my active toddler loved shushabye and baby gym and a few others. it needs bringing back babytv is boring for a little one who doesnt sit still for long

Thankyou for your comments. Sky are not budging on this, the only answer I ever got out of them was that it won't be coming back. No explanations, no apologies, nothing. Sky really do not care what we think of them axing the channel :(

I remember this channel. My first son used to watch it daily. It helped him to learn numbers, and his alphabet before starting school. He loved Harry the bunny, and seek and find.I know I am writing this comment in 2013, but I never knew what had happened to the channel, and my second son never got the chance to watch it, which was such a shame.In my honest opinion, sky should listen to there existing customers. Children are our future, and it would not hurt a big company like sky to run a channel that benefits our young children. I'm sure that they can afford to run this channel without money making adverts,,,, because they absolutely make enough money from us subscribers monthly!!!!

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